A certain former Libertarian Party employee has chosen to violate my well-considered privacy, using my full real name in an article (thus placing my life in more danger); I’m thinking of deleting my online presence as a result, but I haven’t made a final decision.
Sean’s article reveals a portion of my criminal past that I generally neither conceal nor advertise. I can’t argue that I was not on that train. I wasn’t driving it, and I was under considerable duress, but yes, I was at fault for allowing myself to be psychologically manipulated into behaving unethically over a period of time. I shouldn’t have gotten on the train, I should have jumped off many times; but it had considerable momentum and I stayed on it all the way through to the wreck. Everything that happened there would have happened with or without me, but I should not have been there.
Sean claims I am eternally discredited as a result. Of course, some people say the same about him. I don’t think anyone is irredeemable. I’ve gathered from a number of people that I am not so thoroughly discredited as Sean claims. While Sean and some others are free to believe that me falling off the wagon and having a major relapse several years ago, and acting badly as addicts often do, nullifies everything good I have done or could do before or since as a petitioner, activist, or writer, not everyone feels that way.
Personally, I am a great believer in the certainty that all of us are sinners, and all of us can be redeemed – even me, and even Sean. I’ve heard that Christians, of whom if I understand it correctly Sean claims to be one, believe something similar. Not that the concept is limited to one religion.
I’m in the political struggle for my friends who have lost their lives, limbs, liberty, homes, kids, minds, and more in the “war on drugs,” of which there are many. Friends I have lived and laughed with and loved, some of whom saved my life more than once. I want to put my energy into something that will help end that suffering, the police-prison-industrial complex and the closely linked military-industrial-congressional complex, and the whole force-based political paradigm that makes them possible.
I don’t know how Gary and Sean trying to destroy each other, and putting me in the crossfire, possibly helps my goals. As I commented on IPR,
OK, gotta admit this.
This whole thing is wearing me down pretty bad.
I probably shouldn’t say this to give my haters another reason to gloat, but oh well.
I’m in a bad place now with my finances, health, emotionally…and things are looking to get a lot worse.
I’m trying hard to be positive, and failing.
If I have any real friends or people who care about me who are reading, other than the ones I have been talking to already, please give me a phone call.
For those of you who hate me, congratulations.
Go ahead, gloat away.
Since then, several people have contacted me, and have been helpful. I am grateful for their help.
I’m in no way trying to deny my share of the blame in anything. Just trying to do better. I hope everyone else at least tries to, as well.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Festivus for the rest of us, or solstice holiday of your choice, and a better new year to all you saints and sinners; thanks for reading, and be blessed.
Less
aynrkey
bostonteapartygoer
Kenn Jacobine
mattdharris
Mike Seebeck
Miche
paulie
Jim Davidson
ponggod
Stuart Richards
Steven Greffenius
Todd Andrew Barnett
I like Paulie. I think he’s, for what it’s worth, one of the good guys. Good doesn’t always mean perfect. That’s ever more so true about libertarian folk. We’re an odd bunch. Some of us break the law regularly and admit it freely and publicly, such as many of us who consume marijuana. Others do so behind closed doors. Some times people make mistakes.
At the end of the day though, petition fraud didn’t kill or maim anyone. There are no irreparable injuries to the bodies of the people whose information was falsified. I’ve forgive people for worse sins than that, that’s for damn sure.
What does it mean that Paulie is one of the good guys? It means we ought to give a damn about retaining him amongst our ranks. It means we can count on him more often than your average joe to give a crap about our values and help us to promote our message of liberty. Most of all, it means we ought to give a crap about him and all of our other brothers and sisters in this movement, too.
I met Paulie for the first time in Denver at the 08 convention. We had a blast together. I’m a pretty good judge of character – I have to be, considering that once I consider someone a friend, I tend to go way the hell out of my way to help them, sometimes to my own detriment. I could tell then that Paulie was one of the good guys. He still is. He’s human. He makes mistakes. So do I. So do you. Let’s all move on past a years-old mistake and get back to what matters – promoting libertarian values.
Cannoli, since I am not permitted to post comments to IPR, kindly do me a favor, and post the following over there in reaction to the posts slamming me:
1. You all ever hear of the concept of a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Justice Brier is universally condemned on the Right as a turn-coat. He was appointed by Republican President Bush I in 1991, and then almost immediately turned Democrat. He votes with far left Ruth Bader-Ginsburg 99% of the time.
2. The Judge in the first case in Oklahoma did criticize me. In fact, he criticized just about everyone involved in the case, witnesses, plaintiffs, lawyers, you name it. As a matter of fact, he saved his greatest vitriol for the AG Attorny, who he made personally apologize to me in the court room as the VERY FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, the next day of proceedings, for gross inaccuracies and lies she had stated about me. She said I was “Wanted in Colorado,” with a warrant. I’ll hand it to her. She did apologize in full to me in front of everyone in the court room. It was a very sweet moment indeed. But I notice nobody ever reports that part.
3. Winger and others are trying to play this up as a “bi-partisan” deal. Yes, there are other AGs involved. But they are small potatos. This is coming from the Montana AG’s office, and no doubt Democrat Schweitzer. Winger himelf put the Montana AG in the heading of his article. It is the fact that he neglected to also list his Democrat affiliation, is what is most offensive to me.
Certainly.
Your comment and this response has been posted in the comments at
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/more-on-the-amicus-of-13-states-in-brewer-v-nader/
and
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/13-states-ask-us-supreme-court-to-hear-arizona%e2%80%99s-appeal-in-nader-case/
Eric, you commented at IPR just recently. Was someone impersonating you?
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/constitution-party-why-is-the-media-silent-on-the-obama-birth-certificate-question/#comment-27672
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/update-on-write-in-votes/#comment-27670
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/wayne-root-interviewed-by-eric-dondero/#comment-27667
What do you mean you are not allowed to comment at IPR?
Everyone who registers is allowed to comment here. Write contact.ipr@gmail.com if you have any problems with your comment registration, tips for IPR, etc. You wrote us this morning, so I know you know how.
Cannoli, I just tried again to log into IPR, no luck. Please tell Trent Hill.
And correction:
Yes, I did mean Justice Souter, not Breyer.
Libertarians, all that energy into debates and personal attacks! Alll that vacuum for real world action [as in the horrible horrible government programs for military veterans. If ever there was a program crying out for privatization....]
———- Donald Raymond Lake
All programs should be privatized. Every single one.
Real world action: cut and paste from email and Delaware Libertarian blog
B] As for the “nobody gets LGBT in Alabama,” please don’t even bother with that argument. Outright was founded in the Southeastern United States — a plurality of its membership, and a great deal of its leadership is based there. Our national chair Rob Power is from Tennessee. We know all about rural southeastern lobbying around LGBT issues because we do it everyday — more than our Republican and Democratic counterparts.
p] Right on. Any info that you want to pass along for what has worked in that regard in Tennessee or other surrounding states would be appreciated by the Alabama party. And thank you for you work!
B] At this point, I am chronicling the end of the Libertarian National Committee as we know it.
B] A large number of people are being “quiet,” and/or “nice” in order to preserve their status in an institution that’s hit an iceberg and taking on water.
p] Not me. I have extremely low status, if any at all (just ask Sean Haugh). I’m more interested in moving the cause of liberty forward than whether the LNC survives, dies, or changes from a lizard to a butterfly. I don’t care which party does it, or if we do it in some way that does not involve a political party.
p] If the LNC is failing to get that job done, let’s organize other committees to fulfill specific tasks that they are failing to do. Here is one:
http://freedomballotaccess.org/
We have both petitioners and telephone fundraisers ready to go, and one state we have already contracted with. We need lists of people for our fundraisers to call, and any help in that regard would be appreciated – as, of course, would actual contributions by anyone reading. If anyone reading has a personal beef with the folks at Freedom Ballot Access, you can donate to the Alabama Libertarian Party instead, or to the West Virginia Libertarian Party. Hopefully more states soon.
Here is another one:
College Libertarian Organizing Committee
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2421661756
http://pauliecannoli.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/college-libertarian-organizing-committee-2/
p] Most recently I have talked to WV LP chair Matt Harris. He has experience filing 501c3 paperwork and is willing to do so if anyone here (or anywhere else) is willing to kick in $300 to cover the filing fees.
B] The Libertarian Party no longer has credibility with a large swathe of the freedom movement. It no longer has credibility with audiences that once respected it. To the degree that it has preserved SOME credibility, it has done so at the cost of the integrity of individual Libertarians, who have danced fast and loose to spin the Barr/Root ticket as a “boon for freedom” to a very skeptical media.
B] Speaking of media, how many media releases from LNC headquarters get published in major media? Or even niche non-libertarian media? None. Outright, which is smaller and less well-funded, got 47 media sources to cover the Barr campaign. Funnily enough, we did it by using the proper appellations for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people (the latter two groups aren’t even covered by the term “homosexual.”)
p] OK. Please share as much knowledge as possible about what has worked for you in terms of getting media coverage. I’ve told you – I think it was several months ago – that I am available to help in these media efforts, which can also be a separate committee which is organized separately from the LNC by self-selected volunteers. If you don’t want my help, that’s OK. But I haven’t seen any public call for other interested people to help, so for all you know you may have all sorts of would be volunteers that just have not been asked.
B] Finally, yes, Paulie, if you had orchestrated the nomination of Cindy Sheehan as LNC nominee for president, participated in an effort to remove the economic freedom planks from our platform AND were sitting on our platform committee while prominently displaying a “Workers’ World Weekly” banner on your web site, I’d be equally critical.
p] OK, Comrade Miller, I’ll keep that in mind for when I do exactly that in 2012. LOL. In the meantime, can we please devote 10% of the time we are currently spending discussing what the LNC is NOT doing, and …um…just do it ourselves, maybe? Even though some people think I’m a communist, and some people think my friend Steve Gordon is a homophobic Republican, maybe all of us can find a few issues we can agree on and actually do something to move the ball down the field on those issues?
B] Let’s revisit the situation in 12 months and see just where the LNC is. It’s an organization dependent on donations of discretionary income, running short of cash at the start of a brutal recession, chasing away longtime members, seeing its budget shrink to a tiny fraction of where it was in the Browne campaign days, engaged in meaningless internal debates without a single major policy idea or statement to deal with ANY of the nation’s challenges. It ran a neocon ticket with a neocon platform that a majority of American small-l libertarians couldn’t get behind. And it’s still focused inwardly, even as it implodes. Calling out the problems in a public forum represents the last opportunity many of us have to try and arrest the death spiral — certainly, none of “our” LNC reps or staff take our calls or emails, since they’re busy courting the GOP or plotting against other members of their body.
Cheers,
Brian
p] Yeah, we could do that. Or we could just do what we think the LNC should be doing, without all the bureaucracy, and maybe even have half a chance of derailing the cattle cars before they arrive to take us to the FEMA camps.
One love,
Convicted criminal comrade paulie (CCCP)
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[...] For my response, see Personal note: of saints and sinners [...]